For His Glory

Two men, two houses. One stayed. One left. What happened next? How do we know when we’re THERE?

In Genesis 12, we read the true account of Abram, later called Abraham.

Abram and his wife, Sarai, lived in the home of Terah, Abram’s father. We see a lot of sons and daughters living with their parents in our culture today, and sometimes even the spouses and children of our adult children.

Genesis 11 tells us that Abram moved with his father and his own wife, and they took Lot, Terah’s grandson and Abram’s nephew, with them. We then see that Terah lived out his life in Haran.

Moving again? Abram was 75 years old at the time the Lord told him to move. Genesis 12:1 says:

“Get out of your country,
From your family
And from your father’s house,
To a land that I will show you.
² I will make you a great nation;
I will bless you
And make your name great;
And you shall be a blessing.
³ I will bless those who bless you,
And I will curse him who curses you;
And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Can you imagine that in our western culture? He was 75 years old, his wife was a bit younger, but she had borne no children. Abram’s stay in his family environment had been for 75 years. (Think about this, ladies. Sarai lived with in-laws for 7 and a half decades. In our culture that was reason enough not to get “with child”.) Their nephew, Lot, was as close as they had to a son.

And then, God said, “Get out of there, away from your family and away fro your father’s house and I will show you where to go. I will make you a great nation.” God promised to bless him, to make his name great,and to bless all the families of the earth in Abram.

I’m speculating on several things here. I admit that freely, and I’m also doing it from a perspective of thousands of years later, from a different culture, and with different family dynamics. King Solomon said there’s nothing new under the son, the writer in the New Testament says nothing comes on us that is not common to man, so I gather that the foibles of humanity haven’t changed much.

Did God tell Abram to leave his father’s house because that’s where all the traditions and limitations in his thinking were? Terah was 70 when he fathered children, and now the family was seeing Abram older than that and childless. Did the “less than” for Abram and Sarai kick in because they had no children? We know that God had to change their names after they had been moved out before the promise of the child came. (They just weren’t THERE yet when it came to the promise. They had gotten used to the circumstances and accepted that Lot was going to be as close as it got.)

Were Abraham and Sarah stuck in their natural thinking born out of their decades long, day to day lives so much that God couldn’t speak blessing to them until He got them away from what they had always seen, been, and heard? “Leave your father’s house and your family” was God’s answer for them to become whom He purposed for them to be.

is it possible that we may need to make changes, step out and walk away from the way things have always been in order for God to bring His plans for us to pass? Is it possible that we’re not THERE yet?

Let’s look at the story of another man in another house. This account is out of the Word where Jesus gave an example of two sons. One son was dedicated to his father’s lifestyle. The other son wanted to fly the nest and visit the great unknown, but he wanted to take his “good life” with him in the form of an early inheritance. The father complied with the request. One son stayed; one son left.

I see this as a possible illustration of the church, Christ’s body. There are people who never miss a service and do all they are asked to do. They never experience the life of sin again, and are faithful to what they know to do and they continue to live in their Father’s house, but they aren’t the only people “in the church”.

There are some sons of God who have trouble living in their Father’s house, especially at first. Before they learn the benefits of sonship and the love and acceptance of their Father God, they get tempted to go back and see if there’s something they’ve missed, or they have problems that came in with them to their new house, their Father’s house. Sometimes these sons take their grace for salvation and use it as an “early inheritance” and go back out for a while. (They’re not THERE yet.) Their problems become overwhelming again and they come back. They are still sons, still loved, and the Father still runs to greet them and welcome them home. The Father is as kind to them as before they left.

And therein is the problem for some of the sons who’ve stayed, because they got so busy working for the Father that bitterness slipped in and stole their joy. They do not realize any longer that all the Father has is theirs and always has been, since the day of their rebirth. (They’re not THERE yet either.)

God’s faithfulness to His plan for us is steadfast. His love is never diminished. His kindness and compassion are strong in our need for grace. And we always need grace, because none of us, none of us, are “THERE” yet.

In the old covenant, God was with Abraham until he got “there” and there were a lot of distractions and messed up things along the way, but Abraham’s blessings have carried over to us and both Abraham (the father of many nations) and his wife, Sarah, are listed with the names of others who died in faith and whose lives are still important today.

In the new covenant, bought with the blood of Jesus Himself, sons are still sons, heirs to the promise. God doesn’t change. And He will be with us, guiding us along, while we endeavor to get there.

And when we do, we’ll see Him waiting to tell us, “Welcome to Your Father’s house”

If someone asks, “How well can a human really KNOW God?”, Jesus has to be the example. He was as human as me and you at one time. So, when the Father said, “Jesus, that mountainside of people need fed”, and Jesus saw what the disciples were holding, He knew God well enough to look up, bless what was there, and begin breaking with expectation. We can know God THAT well.

Jesus said He only did what He perceived the Father doing and only spoke what He heard the Father say. With Jesus’ responses as our example:

A woman was flung down before Jesus, having been caught in an act of adultery. Jesus said, “I do not condemn you. Go home and stop doing that.” We can know the heart of God toward sinners that well.

He said it wasn’t Him that did the healing, it was the Father in Him. As a human with the Spirit of God, Jesus was on His way to heal a sick child. He began confidently walking toward the sickness expecting it to be defeated because He knew God didn’t send sickness. We can know God that well.

On His way to bring healing to the child, Jesus perceived through the Spirit that healing had gone out of His body at the touch of someone in need. If Jesus heard the Father’s instructions to confront the woman’s fear of being accepted (after being culturally “unclean” for more than a decade) by speaking peace and acknowledging her value and her faith, we can hear God that well.

The gospels are full of the exploits of Jesus. All that Jesus did on the earth was out of what a human being, full of the Holy Spirit, learned about the Father and put into action to demonstrate the love and power of the Father toward us. We can know God that well.

Jesus was a human, tempted like we have been, but never sinned. How well did Jesus know God? Well enough that He heard God call Him “Son”. Jesus knew God well enough that He was in a relationship with Him as the Father who would keep His Word, protect and provide (before the garden surrender, there were incidents of Jesus walking through people who intended to kill Him, yet He was unharmed).

As a human, Jesus knew God as Father. Not the flawed fatherhood of humanity, but the perfect Father who is undefeatable, never angry, not withholding anything good. We can know God that well and enjoy fellowship with Him.

Jesus knew He could walk in (and use) the Father’s power. He knew the Father had given it to Him to show God’s intention toward mankind. He understood the Father’s love. We can know God so well that we are bold to walk in His power.

Jesus knew that His physical life would end,and God would receive Him and raise Him up. The present, temporary circumstances are defeated when eternity is understood.

With Jesus as our example, humans can know God that well. We just have to ask.

“Father, teach me what You taught Jesus. Move through me as You did Him. Whether it’s a few fish sticks for belly hunger or hope in a mountain of hopelessness, may I feed people with what You have given me. “

No, not your adult home. Your parents’ home! So, if you’re like me and can say, “I haven’t lived in my parental home for (fill in the blank) years”, I am with you. Well, at least I thought I was. But today as I was praying, I thought of Abraham. You know, the guy who is listed in the Hall of Faith, the man who considered and then considered from God’s perspective, the issue of having a baby at his age. And he fathered a son just like God had promised, but before Abraham became that guy…

I like to paraphrase. That’s why I don’t have my own translation of the Bible…because I’m not always right on with the scripture meanings, but I try. I’m just tossing this out here because I’ve been thinking.

You can read about Abraham in Genesis, though. He got several chapters by the time all was said and done. His exploits made history and then went into the new covenant. His blessings have even come on us! But first…

“Abram”, God said to a man who was already married, and was concerned that he didn’t yet have an heir, “You need to get out of here. Leave your family home and go to a place I will show you.” If I didn’t know better, I might think Abram was from the Walton clan on the east coast where generations shared the same home, but I’m sure some similarities could have existed.

But why was it necessary to leave his parents’ home in order to fulfill God’s plan for Abram and Sarai? Because Solomon said there’s nothing new under the sun, and people are still just people, fallen and with a plan stealing enemy running the earth, I think we can find some reasons in our own time and our own culture.

Does anyone other than me have the ability to name one domineering family member that can make you, as a capable, productive adult, cringe when you see them coming? (Raise your hand. No one will see.)

I can see that limiting God’s ability to work out His purpose, especially if it seems an unpopular plan to people who have known you all your life. Have you ever heard the phrase, “We’ve always done it that way”?

Another reason Abram may have needed to leave his family’s home is that his whole family may have been saying stuff like “Abram and Sarai can’t have children.” When we hear those negative words long enough, they take root. We must guard our hearts about what we take in through our ears so that we aren’t getting into unbelief about the promise that God has given us.

I know someone who, for decades, could not put a plant into the ground without it dying. Now she can plant anything and it grows. What changed? There was a person in her life who continually told her, “The best way to kill a plant is to give it to you.” Once that relative was not in the area any more, the woman said, “I am going to try one more time” and without that negativity in her thinking, a plant grew. She got bold and tried another. She still plants a lot. Successfully. So Abram’s parents may have been a hindrance to his success.

God’s plan for Abram was to have a son, an heir that would produce a nation to worship God. While Abram was in his parents’ home, that hadn’t happened. Abram’s personality was formed there, and he was influenced there in a way that kept God’s promises from being realized in that environment. God had chosen Abram to be the father of many nations. Finally, God said, “Abram, go.”

Once Abram was out of his father’s house, God was free to change him, and even his name. A son was finally born at a ripe old age, and the nation of Israel is still remembering Father Abraham.

Today I began to wonder…is it time for me to leave my parents’ house? Are there old thoughts, like attic remnants, in my mind that are hindering God’s plan for me even as a (confirmed) adult? Are there traditions in me that I’m not aware of that keep me from moving forward in Him? Are there thoughts or fears from things I’ve “always heard” that are contrary to what God’s promises have been telling me for years?

I’m asking God if my past way of thinking is influencing my present and future way of “doing”. I may need to pull up stakes (and traditions) and leave my parents’ house.

If my couch cushions over the course of my life are any indication, I do not look for lost coins. However, if the lives of our dogs are any indication, I would look for lost dogs.

Jesus talked about both lost coins and lost sheep. He talked about how people left other coins and sheep to find the one they lost. He told of how the person rejoiced and shared their joy at the finding of ONE who was lost.

The power of the one is in the value placed on the one by the people who went looking to find their lost “object”. Coins are objects, sheep are (kind of?) objects, but people get to decide the worth of them. Usually familiar animals and rare coins are sought when they are discovered to be missing.

When it comes to our Savior, the power of ONE is the same. Because there are no people that Jesus does not value. He was utterly destroyed for each ONE and every ONE. He was beaten to take the punishment and the consequences of sin’s destiny in us, and He did it long before any of us alive today were ever born. God, who knew us before we were more than DNA planned and fulfilled our deliverance from disease and destruction, whether the “one” is drugs or cancer, an earache or ALS.

His body in crucifixion absorbed the curses that were our destiny as a result of disobedience in the law. Because He was beaten, each ONE was healed and redeemed from destruction. Because He was crucified, we are free from those consequences coming back. Because of His bloodshed, we are redeemed, delivered, set free, made whole from every vile plan of our adversary, satan.

And there is a downside to the power of ONE. When “one” is considered insignificant, a low number of low importance…destruction comes. We have a Biblical example of when “one” wasn’t held in high esteem.

When God told Abraham destruction was coming to Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham began to intercede for the people there. He had family there and Abraham wanted them to be protected. In his ‘bargaining’, Abraham started with 50. God responded that the entire city would be spared if He could find 50 righteous there. (Grab your Bible and turn to Genesis 19 for the entire exchange!)

Abraham stopped negotiating at 10 because he surely thought that his nephew’s family, a total of 10 people, were righteous and if he could get God to agree to 10, then Abraham could know with confidence that God would keep His word and the people, and the city, would be saved from destruction.

It’s a related topic that Abraham was incorrect as to the status of righteousness in his own family (Likely so are we, on occasion),but as I’ve been considering this, I think of Abraham’s lack of concern for the other people there. I can’t judge why. He was put on the spot, so to speak, and he, like we would, was looking out for his family.

He likely didn’t know all those others. He may have known some and held an opinion that they weren’t worthy of mercy, but it saddens me that Abraham didn’t negotiate to the point that he said, “God, if there is ONE righteous…” God is quick to show mercy and He has always been.

As a friend of God and in the middle of the situation, Abraham may have known more about it than I do centuries later. I can’t help but wonder, though, were their children in those places that had never heard of Jehovah and were unrighteous because they had never been taught righteousness?

Perhaps it’s a lesson to me that in this current generation, in the region I live, I need to be “negotiating” for every person in my region. I need to be repeatedly asking “God, if there’s ONE more who will receive Jesus, will You keep drawing people to You, even if there’s just one?”

I don’t know them all. I know the ONE who knows them all. I know the ONE who is not willing that any should perish. It has been said that God can only involve Himself in the affairs of humanity when we pray. Do I have to know people to want them to escape an eternity that was made only for the devil and his minions? Do I have the “right” to pass over praying for people that God loves simply because I don’t know them? I think not. Jesus and the Father know all of us.

The blood has been shed, His back has been beaten. The nails opened His body to receive and overcome the curse. For each ONE of us. Does everyone know? Has everyone in our neighborhood heard about the goodness of God?

If under an old covenant (sealed with animal blood) God would encourage Abraham to “negotiate” (and He did not stop His agreement to deliver until Abraham stopped his petition for deliverance), how much more with the blood of His own Son would God answer the prayer of His children if it were “God, if there’s just one person who is perishing, will you please draw all to You?”

ONE. Your neighbor. Your taxi driver. Your convenience store clerk. ONE. Your crazy relative at the holiday dinner. “God, if there’s just one more…”

I remember those faces to this day, although they’ve all changed now. Faces change rapidly from kindergarten to high school and beyond. It was more than a decade ago, and it was amazing. A time of innocent faith and trust. (It was my first Sunday school class and the children’s pastors promised the children wouldn’t hurt me. And they didn’t!

I learned so much. (Do you know that when you’re seven years old you can defeat the devil with a water balloon thrown in Jesus’ name? I’ve seen it!)

The statute of limitations has expired now, so it’s safe to tell that I never picked up my class curriculum. I asked the Holy Spirit what He wanted for those amazing people, and He is fun. I learned the Holy Spirit knows everyone individually and He is capable to teach everyone, varied as we are, in unusual ways, but today’s topic is “True? or Truth?”

We taught on John 14:6 for six weeks! (I’m a slow learner.) Each week during that time we had a short game time where I would say one sentence. The participants had to decide whether that sentence was true or truth. They got quite good at discerning which was which. How did they learn to tell the difference? It’s important to know that what’s true isn’t always Truth.

Jesus is Truth. Not everything is. Here’s an example I remember. “Caroline is wearing a pink shirt.” True or Truth?

Everyone could look at Caroline and quickly see that she was indeed wearing a pink shirt. The participant said “Truth”, which was incorrect according to our criteria, so they didn’t get to shoot for a prize on that turn.

Is that cruel? I don’t think so. Everyone doesn’t win all the time. They all learned by not getting rewarded every time they tried, but that’s another topic for a “rant day” blog.

Over six weeks, though, every child got to go for a prize and I pray that each of them can still remember that what they see right now may not be truth, even when it looks like it.

Truth does not change. What is true today can be “untrue” tomorrow. In that example, I knew Caroline’s mom would not have her in that same shirt the next day, and it might be green. “Jesus is the same yesterday, and today, and forever” is Truth. The Word is as unchanging as the One who became The Word made flesh.

It is important to know what’s Truth and what’s not, and that lesson must not end in a childhood Sunday school room. It didn’t take long for those brilliant children to learn that when I gave them a sentence out of the Bible in my hand, the answer was always Truth.

It’s still important for us as adults to realize that circumstances are temporary while the Word is not. We can be sidetracked by circumstances. Let’s apply the simple question. “Is it changeable?” If the answer is “Yes”, it’s temporary and subject to the power of God in the name of Jesus. Lack, sickness, despair…all temporary and all subject to change by the unchangeable Word Himself. Know the Truth and trust in it. Fear leaves.

We will live victorious lives in Christ if we do not walk by sight. (We will live longer if we drive by sight, though.

The Word, Jesus, is Truth. He does not change. As a reminder that true isn’t always Truth, just go to Facebook and you’ll see those (then ages 4, 5, 7, 10 ) faces have changed. They are still amazing, but they have grown and changed.

And the Word in John 14:6 is still the same. Jesus IS THE … Truth.

It started with a toilet. (Are you still reading?) That’s rarely a good place to start, but having a toilet is something to be thankful for. On this particular morning, the toilet had issues. As I considered the situation, I said, “God, more than seven years ago, I took You as my Husband when my other one checked out to be with You. Toilets should be Husband jobs and I sure don’t know what to do. Fix it.”

I had a thought to Google. Within 5 minutes the issue was fixed. The night before I was cleaning around the base and had unknowingly hit against the water pressure valve and it was now mostly turned off. One turn and problem solved.

The point was, though, that I didn’t have time to go to the prayer room, make all my confessions, make sure I supplicated, interceded, got in agreement and was operating in special faith. I needed help right then with a non working toilet first thing in the morning.

When there are toddlers to be fed, bathed, chased…the thought of “I need to pray more” can become a guilt trap the enemy likes to set in front of moms. When you’re home schooling, car pooling, meal making, it seems an impossible thing, “Go pray”.

When you’re at work all day, family things in the evening, laundry, bath and bed, the stillness that eventually comes often brings sleep, not supplication. More guilt.

Stop. That.

God is not intimidated by crying children, car sounds, laundry baskets, water running, or any other distractions you can think of. (Remember Jesus teaching for three days in the outdoors? You think there were no children playing, no “I have to go NOW” twisting young ones, no one getting up to go find a tree?)

God can hear you praising Him with the car radio. God can hear you folding towels and asking Him for wisdom as You do. God listens when the shower is running, or the toilet is flushing. (Seriously, praise God for flushing toilets.) God just wants to hear and answer you. Whether it’s two minutes as you’re putting on clean drawers, or 7 minutes in a food drive-up, God just wants to be with you and see you looking toward Him. Because He knows you love Him. He wants you to know how much He loves and accepts you at this crazy, “I never saw that coming” moment.

He was there when your children were born. He doesn’t want you to leave them unsupervised while you “go” pray. Pray where you stand. He’s your best friend. Your life, whatever season you’re in, is God understood. He’s aware, and He’s there. If I were brilliant, I would create an app that is just for texts between you and God. A communication tool to help us chat with the One that loves us most, when we have 14 seconds that no one is talking to us.

Are there times you need to set aside to pray? Sure. If you were planning a quiet time to have major discussions with your husband, you’d call it a date. It’s the same principle. God will call you to those times, usually after everything else has calmed down.

And because you have spent time together during your day, even if it was a sheet changing, diaper changing, nose wiping session of time talking with Him as you go to the next “thing”, if you go on that late date and fall asleep, rest well knowing God is still there. And you’re still His.

Our family has an out of town guest arriving in a few days.

In preparation for the guest, I made a mental list of what I want to have available. New blanket, new sheets (I just take sheets off the bed, wash them, and put them back. I avoid a lot of sheet folding stress that way.)

Armed with my mental list, I clicked to my favorite shopping place, Amazon, to order a couple things necessary to accommodate our guest and assure their comfort. Today is the guaranteed delivery date.

As I thought on that this morning, my mind meandered to the way I handled that situation. With a few clicks and a guaranteed delivery date, the need was addressed, the transaction complete. I hit the “x” in the corner and looked for confirmation in my inbox. “That’s done”, I remember thinking.

I am almost embarrassed to share the way that memory took a sharp turn, but “I yam what I yam” (as a now likely unknown animated figure would say), and I’m curious to see if I am the only one.

While I was congratulating myself on how simple it was to get the solution, I thought, “I really like Prime.”

And then, (has this ever happened to you?) in my mind I heard “Ahem”. I knew the brain train was getting ready to go around a curve. I’ve learned when that happens that I’m going to be made better because of this moment, so I just take a deep breath, a big gulp, and say, “Yes?” because I want the Holy Spirit to tell me when and where I’m missing it. If I miss it in the day to day, I’ll miss it in the major issues. I’ve been there, and it doesn’t bode well.

“What do you like about Prime?” the other Person in my head asked.

“I like that I find out they have it, I request, they give me a guaranteed delivery and I don’t have to give it another thought” and in two days I can go to the porch and pick it up. Done deal.”

I could almost hear the cringe coming, if it’s even possible to hear a cringe, as this came to my mind…

Mark 11: 22-24. So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God.  For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.  Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.

And I asked myself, “Does my thought life ever indicate that I trust Prime more than I believe God? Is my expectation of Amazon’s delivery higher than that of God’s word? In comparison, do I pray and then ‘click the “x” ‘ and know it’s finished? Do I do it sometimes? Do I do it consistently, confidently?”

Those questions need to be answered. Change needs to come. God who cannot lie and does not change His mind deserves better, more reverent trust than anyone else or natural guarantees. The proof of God’s faithfulness to His “delivery system” was in the prophecies of old and the promise fulfilled. “When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son” (Galatians 4)

As we celebrate Jesus’ birth, may we (or only me, whichever is true) be changed to truly, largely, totally, understand the cost to God of the guarantee He made to us.

Unto us a child IS born, Unto us a Savior IS given. He is. Done deal. Now that’s prime.

Last week, I wrote about how the broken body of Jesus redeemed us from sickness. I hope you enjoyed that and included it in your blessing count as you celebrated Thanksgiving.. As I studied taking communion and the events of our Redemption through Jesus, I became flabbergasted (I should probably stop here and use spell check). The events in the Resurrection were three fold, orderly, and purposefully arranged. Until recently I had never considered the reasons. God is known for wanting things done “decently and in order”. These life changing events demonstrate that. “Oh, Father, that I should become more purposeful and plan.”

The first was the beating, which redeemed people (all people, then, now and future people) from sickness and disease. Jesus provided health and healing before He dealt with our sins. We humans still struggle to believe this at times due to our life experiences. We’ve prayed and seen people still leave our world, we’ve watched people go through horrible ailments before they passed to their next life, and our natural thoughts say, “The Bible says that, but … ”

That’s one we’ve all experienced, but the other areas of our lives don’t always line up with what God has said, so why do we only question that one? I believe it’s because “that one” is the most painful. The results of death leave the loved ones with a void.

The second event in the Resurrection of Jesus was when His pure blood was shed. It is written in the Word that “without the shedding of blood, there is no remission” (for sin ). This portion of Christ’s sacrifice was to take away the consequences of sin, the damage of sin, as well as shame and guilt. No person who has accepted the finished work of the Lord should be living with sin and shame.

If you are a Christian who takes communion, you should remember that the “cup” is symbolic of His blood, and by that, you are forgiven, made new, made totally clean, and born again. The sin that we were born with is no more a part of us in our spirits.

Remember, if you have accepted Jesus as Lord, you were made righteous, right with God, and sin has never been a part of the new you! You are by Him, in Jesus, forgiven, totally.

God doesn’t even remember your sins. Forget them! Only the enemy wants to remind you. He’s like that relative who sees you doing well but never fails to remind you of that time when you weren’t. (What? You don’t have any people in your life who snickers as they say, “I knew you when…”? That’s another blessing to count.

The third event in Jesus’ acts to redeem us was when He was crucified. Remember Galatians 3:13 where the Holy Spirit tells us that Jesus became a curse for us because “cursed is the man that hangs on a tree”. This portion of redemption and the logical reason for it leaves me saying, “Wow”. The first action Jesus did healed us. The second portion wiped out our sin. This event of Jesus becoming the curse (of the law) for us is utterly logical, sensible, and powerful (as they all were). Think about this. All the things that Jesus’ beating redeemed us of could have come back to torment us again had the curse’s power not been broken. God leaves nothing undone. His power is capable and His grace is sufficient.

I had kind of skimmed through that part of Deuteronomy 28 where the blessings turned into curses. I didn’t like the tone of that part. For me, reading that part had the same dread of stepping on the scales after that meal I knew I shouldn’t have eaten. But as I studied, I took the time to read it this time.

What is included in the curse Jesus redeemed us from by His hanging, humiliated, barely breathing body? He was close to nudity in front of His mother and friends publicly, hearing the laughter of the soldiers as they sat there and gambled for his garment. Thorns piercing our Lord’s head, being thirsty and only given vinegar sucked from a (dirty, most likely) sponge. What did Him enduring that do for us?

Let’s look:

Freedom from Dismay. Madness. Confusion. Blindness. Insanity. Poverty. The lives of your spouse and your children in ruins. Pestilence (a fatal epidemic disease), everything you set your hand to destroyed by your enemies, and grievous sicknesses of long duration. (There are a few more, too!)

Grievous sicknesses of long duration. Cancer? ALS? HIV? Heart disease? Diabetes? If it is a serious illness that lasts a long time with death as its ultimate end, it was part of the curse and Jesus has redeemed us from it. As the nails in His body encountered that tree, picture the curse and its consequences flowing into Jesus’ own body. Did I mention tumors? Jesus had them. Boils? Those too. They entered His pure body and He endured them all before His flesh died from His hanging there.

Even with the curse now removed, people still experience the destruction. It ought not be so. It ought not be so. (I deliberately repeated that. ) It is never God’s will for it to be so. For God so loved the world that He gave…He gave Jesus.

Would God have put Jesus in that position if it weren’t sufficient to accomplish the goal? Can we possibly see God doing something half way for a short time? When the Word says that Once, for all men, for all time that Jesus was offered, it’s talking about Him being the sin offering that included anything that came as a result of that, including sickness and the curse.

So why then, with the price being paid, are there still consequences of sin and the curse? It’s because God’s will is not always done.

There are so many of us with so many different attitudes and thoughts on this topic. Only God’s word has the answer you need and how you can change it. Ask Him. Don’t ask and leave without the answer. Let’s get this settled so we can walk in all Jesus endured to give us. That includes freedom from anything “grievous”.

If you’re like most women reading this, you are a “woman of faith”, a Christian who loves Jesus, loves her family, and mourns at death of friends. Since it’s now Tuesday before the 4th Thursday of November, if you’re in the US, you likely have a turkey thawing in your refrigerator, or a menu that you keep looking at. You may be dreading a trip to the grocery. (Can you forego the green bean casserole this year since you forgot the green beans or do you REALLY have to get back out? Short of having a grocery delivery available, I say “yes, forego the casserole”, but it’s your traditions to maintain. Your call.)

Grab your favorite drink and read a bit. You’ll need fortification to go back to the grocery.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the three different events of redemption over that weekend we now call Easter. Jesus took care of sin in all its areas. That’s worthy to make the “I’m thankful for ____” list at Thursday’s dinner party.

Then I asked myself, “What exactly do the benefits of the beating portion of redemption look like? Picture this if you can. Jesus’ earthly body experienced pain like any of ours. He was confined to a post, and Roman soldiers, who were trained to inflict damage just short of death when ordered to do so, took a whip in their hand. Jesus heard the crack of the whip before the first stripe was laid. He felt the skin being pulled from His pure, yet fleshly back.

That happened once and then 38 more times. The Bible tells us that Jesus’ appearance was marred more than any man. At the conclusion of that torture, Jesus did not look human. His body was deformed and who among us can even imagine the extent of His pain? Did His humanity weep while His purpose remained strong?

With every stripe, sickness and disease was eradicated with the blood that splattered the ground and poured out from the body of our Lord. Can we say “Thank You for all You endured” by refusing to accept sickness into our body? Yes.

By His stripes, we WERE healed. If we believe in spiritual salvation from sin, which we cannot see, will we not accept physical salvation which we can? It was the same blood from the same sacrifice.

Jesus is worthy to be believed. His choice to live pure for all His life is what enabled Him to be the sacrifice. He could have called angels and escaped but He did not. This is what Thanksgiving, and (I would add) communion, are about.

One step away from death is where Jesus was after the beating He endured. And that was just phase 1. Psalm 107:20 tells us that “He sent His Word and healed them, and delivered them from all their destruction.” Prophecy of the purpose of redemption and what it would accomplish. Sin brought sickness aimed at destruction. Jesus chose to destroy what sin brought. The price was the torment of the beating.

The act of redemption that Jesus chose had three goals, not just one. And each phase of that three day torturous event had a different purpose.

The whipping post bought the healing. As I am honored to have recently been taught the truth about Communion that took the bread and juice out of being tradition to a clearer understanding of “do not take unworthily” I am reminded each time I take part in it that Jesus’ broken body at the whipping post is the reason I am here in health and strength after experiencing two strokes more than three years ago now.

Before i was ever sick, before you and I ever experience a symptom, our freedom (redemption) from sickness has already been bought. It was paid for in that beating. I believe only a firm commitment to us and to the Father’s love for us gave Jesus the power to live through that experience. He first loved us. With His blood, He loved us. Before we were born, He knew us. Loved us.

Ephesians 3 contains the prayer that we will know the love of Christ which surpasses (human) knowledge. I pray that each of us comes to see the extent of the love Jesus has for us as shown in the acts that brought (and bought) our redemption, that we will not tolerate sickness because of His commitment to take sickness away from us.

The whipping post had nothing to do with cleansing from sin. The whipping post was Jesus’ victory over sin’s damage and consequences. The blood from the stripes bought back our health that existed before sin came.

If Jesus had died during the beating, sin would have remained ours to bear. The first event of redemption was for our physical healing from disease and sickness that entered the earth when sin came. Once Jesus had risen from His death, He gave the power and ability to heal the sick to each of us, and He told us to go.

Next week, I’ll talk about “why the cross and not a sword?”

Happy “Give thanks well” week! (Refrigerate the leftovers)

It was April 1976. I had just gotten born again. The person who told me about Jesus on Sunday evening had been at my home with her husband the night before. Two young couples playing cards and drinking until early on Sunday morning.

I was completely uninformed about salvation. I knew Who Jesus was. I had gone to church a few times when I lived with my aunt until I was 8 years old. My father remarried,nand took us to live with him and his new wife. That was the end of church attendance, so when I was 22 years old and my friend said, “I got saved tonight”, my response was, “From what?”

When I saw her excitement and heard her say, “I confessed my sins and got baptized and I felt so clean…” that was enough for me. As a childhood incest survivor, I wasn’t sure what it felt like to be clean, but I knew I had to have that for myself.

The next time she went to church, I went with her. I had extra clothes so I could get baptized. I ran to the altar at the end of service in that little church (it was later I found out why it was so little) but they baptized me on the spot in a horse trough that they filled with a water hose as we stood around and waited. I wasn’t really sure if my sins were frozen off, but it didn’t matter because I felt clean, at least for a few weeks.

There we were, two young best friends who had just gotten “saved”. In that decade, we used landline phones to talk about God, sometimes until three in the morning.

One night we talked about John 14:12 where Jesus said believers would do the works that He did and even greater! We were excited, rebels without a clue. She wondered what that meant we would do… I figured it meant what it said so I decided I would put it to the test.

The next morning, I got my Bible and a glass of water. Have you figured out what the first thing I was going to do like Jesus was? You guessed it. I was going to turn the water into wine.

I read where Jesus told the servants to fill the water pots, but I didn’t need that much wine. (It had only been a few weeks since I’d emptied the bottles that held wine substitutes) so I figured a clear glass filled with tap water would be enough to prove the point.

It got complicated when I didn’t know what came next. As I read where Jesus told them just to draw some water out of the pots He’d had them fill and take it to the head guy, then read that what looked like water tasted like the best wine ever, I came to the conclusion that since I was doing what Jesus did, it must be some holy power I now had and when I took a drink it would be wine. (I was only 22, but my faith was STRONG…and ignorant. )

I raised the glass to my mouth and that’s when my first experience with the question, “Why didn’t that work?” left me disappointed. The doubt started. I was pointing my finger at that passage and reading, “He who believes on me…”

I called my friend and asked her why it didn’t work. She didn’t know. I read her the passage. She still didn’t know. We finally came to the conclusion that all baby Christians arrive at eventually. The next step was to call our pastor and ask him why it didn’t work.

It never occurred to me that I would become the laughingstock for trying to do what Jesus had done. I genuinely believed it was just that simple. What my pastor explained to me in between his snickering was, “That doesn’t really mean that you can do everything Jesus did. But you can’t make wine because we don’t have to drink wine. They couldn’t drink the water, and we can.”

My young Christian heart was broken and I wondered if any of the Bible was true. My feelings were hurt because my pastor laughed at me.

And then I had a thought drop into the deepest part of me, which later I learned was how the Holy Spirit sounds. “You can’t make water into wine because I didn’t tell you to. “

I never told anyone about that, because I didn’t want to be laughed at. And in the last 43 years being loved by Jesus, taught by the Holy Spirit, I’ve learned some things through other experimental incidents. If God rolls His eyes, He’s rolled them at me. There have been times I’ve been sure I heard him laugh at me. It’s that laugh where your child does something goofy and your laugh at them is filled with love, and they know it.

I had forgotten that morning with the water experiment until the other day when I heard an amazing pastor (mine, who wasn’t even born in 1976) refer to Peter’s near drowning experience and say, “If you’re going to walk on water like Jesus did, you need to have His instruction to do it. Peter had Jesus’ instruction. “Come”. It still required faith, but Peter was walking on that word until He looked away from His Lord and onto the problem.

Jesus is my Lord. The Holy Spirit was sent to give me knowledge if I’ll ask. Even after all the times I’ve stepped out without proper understanding, and have learned valuable lessons, this I believe. If Jesus ever tells me to make wine, it will be the best.